


Disappearing Act

by LaurenCrabtree



Category: Cthulhu Mythos - H. P. Lovecraft
Genre: Alternative Character Interpretation, Angst with a Happy Ending, Asenath Was Never Possessed By Ephraim’s Soul, F/M, Kisses, Mentions of Daniel Upton, Mentions of Herbert West, Mentions of Unethical Healthcare Practices, Period-Typical Misunderstanding of Mental Illness, Wow There Are a Lot of Mentions in This Fic, mentions of prejudice, schizophrenic Edward
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-04
Updated: 2018-09-04
Packaged: 2019-07-07 03:09:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15899685
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LaurenCrabtree/pseuds/LaurenCrabtree
Summary: Edward Derby’s side of the story is a lot different than Daniel Upton’s.





	Disappearing Act

**Author's Note:**

  * For [nautilusrose](https://archiveofourown.org/users/nautilusrose/gifts).



> This was written for blog-of-a-multitude-of-fandoms’s Kisses prompt meme. @nautilusrose requested #56 (Caught Off-Guard Kiss) for Lovecraft, and this was the result. If you want to chat with me on Tumblr or request a fic yourself, you can find me there at @laurencrabtree.

He wasn’t expecting to get pulled through the doorway and into a kiss.

 

But when Asenath did it, Edward Derby had no choice but to go with it; he hadn’t seen her for months and he had missed her more than he could bear. It was fairly quick, but just as passionate as any of their longest kisses, with the days upon weeks of pent-up boredom and frustration all releasing at once into what could only be described as a frenzy in slow motion. The moment their lips touched and he looked into Asenath’s dark, dewy eyes, he melted into her embrace and felt like the two of them couldn’t get any closer together.

 

“Miss me?” She said when she finally pulled away from him. How he had missed hearing that playful voice.

 

“Of course.” Edward felt strangely out of breath as he gathered his thoughts and began to speak. “I finally found a way for us to get out of town. I just spoke with Dr. West, and he says that if we give him a week, he can find a way to get Dan off our trail, if only for a few days.”

 

“That’s my Edward, always one step ahead.” Asenath pulled him in for another hug. Edward hadn’t liked her all-consuming bear hugs when they had first met, but he had gradually grown used to them and now felt a little bit of pride whenever she gave him one—she didn’t reserve them for many people.

 

“Actually, it was you who introduced me to Herbert in the first place.” In spite of himself, Edward still couldn’t shake the need to minimize his accomplishments. He began to silently reprimand himself for it only for Asenath to do so less silently.

 

“Come on,  _ you _ were the one who thought to ask him for help.” She gave him a playful slap on the arm, but he could tell that she would get serious if he talked that way again. For all her shortcomings, she was certainly dedicated when it came to building him up.

 

“So where should we go in the meantime? Dunwich? Kingsport?”

 

“No, I was actually thinking we could use this whole charade as an excuse to do something a little more… extravagant for a change. How do you feel about New York?” Asenath could barely contain her ear-to-ear grin as she spoke.

 

“...The city or the state?” Edward knew she probably meant the city, but he had never been to a major city before; his family would surely have his hide if they found out he traveled to one. Now, though, the prospect was finally in his hands and it made him feel giddy.

 

“The city, silly. Where else? Upstate surely couldn’t be less dull than here.” Deep down, he knew she was right. That was what had intrigued him about Asenath in the first place: she was someone new, someone different... someone open-minded, unlike everyone else in this damn town. Hopefully her extended family would be the same: he couldn’t imagine them not being so, seeing how everyone shunned the thought of even talking about them. “I can’t promise that every loose end will be tied up when we skip town, but I can try my best. I definitely don’t want you to stress about this.”

 

“What about Dan?” He knew how he felt about his former friend at this point, but he at least wanted to help him overcome his fear of the unknown as best as he could.

 

“Ed… He tried to put you in a sanitarium. The Arkham sanitarium, no less. You know how they treat people there. If someone’s going to try and help him learn, it should be me. Actually, perhaps it should be Herbert; I feel like he’d trust a doctor a hell of a lot more than me. And if he still doesn’t understand, then fuck him. I promise that we Deep Ones actually know what we’re doing when it comes to psychology, unlike  _ some _ people.”

 

She was right. Edward thought back to those harrowing days in the sanitarium, of being told he was wrong about Asenath and her family, that he was even more wrong for liking them, that there was no hope for getting over his schizophrenia. And if that wasn’t bad enough, the prices for the medication he needed were through the roof, and they refused to accept Asenath’s offers to pay for it. He hated to think about the reason why he and his love were leaving to Innsmouth for good, but he reveled in the thought of what was to come. 

 

Especially now that she had mentioned New York: he had always wanted to go to a Broadway play, to see the world from the top of a skyscraper, to eat all the different kinds of food they didn’t have in Arkham. And besides, Asenath did mention once that the network of ghouls there hosted legendary parties. Maybe he could convince one of them to dig him and Asenath a vacation home below the city if the two of them liked it enough. It felt rebellious, knowing he would soon be doing the things his parents said were beyond his constitution.

 

“Want to go start the car? We can certainly leave now if you want; say one last goodbye to your place.”

 

“No, let’s just go. We don’t need to stop anywhere unless you want to.” Edward spoke. He had done that already before he came here, and besides, that house harbored too many unpleasant memories. While he knew it would probably get bought by some typical Arkham sod, a part of him hoped its new owner would burn it down and start anew, just as he planned to do with his family’s reputation. As they stepped out the door for the last time and headed for the Packard, he smiled a small, triumphant smile to himself.  _ No longer will the Derbys be closed-minded,  _ he thought. Today was the beginning of a new era.


End file.
